Operation
-July 3, 2172- 16 months later
"Hey Mordin, long time no see." I said from the table, taking a sip from my hot chocolate. We're currently at a private table in a coffee shop on the Citadel.
"Yes, it has. How've you been, I understand you just finished 'N3' training." He replied.
"Yeah, that was fun." I deadpanned, "I was able to get the two weeks off, so is everything set for operation Indoc?"
"Yes, the OSD is prepared, and Thane is ready when you are" he replied.
"Good, and the distraction?"
"Information was leaked, and they're waiting for the go ahead." He claimed.
"Excellent" I said, "and who's this group?" I questioned.
"Facinus, they're a Turian separatist group, and they don't like Asari, not even a little bit."
"And they didn't question information on how to sneak weapons, people, and gunships onto Thessian soil?" I asked.
"Well, they're not the brightest group" he said with a shrug.
"Okay, and Overlord?"
"Our inside man is in place, once all the files are transferred, it'll be wiped, and their blue box destroyed" he said, "I should have phase two complete and up and running within two weeks, once I'm at Achilles"
"Alright, I still didn't agree to that name for the Broker's ship by the way, but what about the cloaking program?" I asked, and he grabbed my hand and uploaded a new cloaking program. "Did you finish the-"
"Ship?" he interrupted. "Yes, it's quite an odd design you picked, but it's here, docked. I also have a stealth system on it, based on the future Normandy's drive. Not quite at the level as you described it, but it can get you out of a pinch, and fool Asari defenses temporarily."
"It'll fool them?" I asked.
"Yes" he replied, "They never had to deal with them before, they won't know what to look for."
"Alright" I stood up, "let's get this over with, I got plans to get some vacation out of these two weeks. Where's the ship docked at?"
"Alliance docks, J-27"
"Okay, I'll get into contact with Thane" I said.
"No need, he's already on the ship" he claimed, "as well as your new armor. I've got to go, need to tie up a few things together for Overlord."
"Alright, shake on it, just like I taught you." I said grinning, and we grasped hands, chest bumped.
"See you on the flip side, dawg" he said, putting up two fingers sideways, then walking away, barely containing my laughter. This is going to pay me back ten-fold one of these days, if I can keep it up.
Making it back to the dock, I finally see it in all it's glory. It's designed after UNSC Pelican, if you couldn't tell, I was a big fan of Halo. Walking up to it, it's a bit bigger though, well I think so, I've never actually seen one in person. The inside of the ship was nothing like it a pelican, it was very similar to Mordin's ship.
"Chase" I heard from the corner.
"Thane" I replied, "You ready?"
"Yeah, it's about a day's travel from here" he said, "your new set of armor is right over there".
"Wow, it looks awesome." I said, gliding my fingers over the matte black armor.
"Yes, it's surely unique. It's got the armor rating of a medium suit, mobility of light, and shields of a heavy" he claimed.
"Is that, is that even possible?" I asked.
"Mordin created a new metal compound with his R&D team, don't ask, I have no idea. I just know that to make it it costs 1 million credits for that chest plate." he said, and I just dropped my jaw. "I take it that the armor was modeled after that old game you're so fond of, as well as the ship" he said with a grin.
"Maybe" I said, snapping out of my surprise, "Let's go, I want to get this over with." I say, and we take off, and now play the waiting game of traveling to Thessia. My armor looks exactly like ODST armor from Halo Reach, it's my personal favorite version of the armor.
Eventually we reach Parnitha system, the home system of Thessia. We're currently en route, about a half an hour to the planet.
"So, let's go over the plan, shall we?" I said.
"Very well" Thane said. "Once we're within 15 minutes of Thessia, we'll send a signal to Facinus, who'll begin their attack/diversion, we'll use that to land right in front of the Temple of Athame. We'll only have 15 minutes, that's how long the ship is capable of staying in camouflage, and it's only able to do that when still, so we'll have to land, exit, then activate it. We'll then access the prothean beacon, get all the information we came for, then get out. Simple. Clean. At least on our end."
"I still don't like it, is there no other way?" I asked.
"No" he claimed, "Mordin and myself have attempted to find other ways, but they never turn up anything actionable, there security is too tight. This is a necessary evil, even though we don't like it, it has to be done." I nodded, and we continue our way to Thessia. When we were 15 minutes out, Thane pushed a button, and looked over to me. "No going back now."
When we descended to the Temple of Athame, it was so similar. Gunships, rockets, all flying through the air, it was absolute chaos. We land, unimpeded and unnoticed, and quickly exit the ship. We turn around, and Thane turned on the Ship's cloak, it was nothing impressive, I could still see it, but a ship flying by would have a hard time spotting it.
"Let's go" I muttered, turning on my cloak, as did Thane. We're able to see the outline of each other, thanks to an IFF system in place. We reach the interior section of the Temple, where the beacon is, and it's completely empty.
"Now what?" Thane asked, decloaking.
"Just get the OSD ready, and keep an eye out, I'll do the rest" I stated, decloaking myself. I walk around the Temple, activating the points to turn on the Beacon, taking about five minutes trying to figure out how to activate them, and the statue cracked, and broke apart revealing the Beacon, and Vendetta shooting out of it.
"No Reaper or indoctrinated forces detected. Pre-invasion cycle."
"Hello Vendetta" I said
"You know my name, as well as what I am?" He questioned.
"Yes, and I know how the Protheans set up the Asari race to be the dominant species of this cycle, but they wasted the Protheans warnings, and all the information you gave them." I claimed. "At the current rate, we'll be wiped out, and the next cycle will have nothing." Total lie.
"And what is it that you want then?" it asked.
"A few things" I said, "I need any and all information on Prothean V.I.'s and A.I.'s, how you detect indoctrinated forces, blueprints to the crucible, any advanced shields you have, and any handheld weapons and ship based weapons that are effective against the Reapers. Also, Reaper tactics and fighting styles as well. You can go ahead and throw in the History of the Protheans, and information on their culture"
"Very well, I'll provide what I'm able" he replied.
"You can transfer it to this OSD" Thane said, holding out the OSD, and Vendetta waved over to him, "Wow."
"What?" I questioned.
"There's a petabyte's worth of data here." He mentioned.
"Come on, let's go, it sounds like the fight's dying down out there, the Asari are making quick work of Facinus, we don't have much time left." I said, getting a nod from Thane. "Vendetta, can you keep our identities secret? If not, this cycle may fail."
"Of course, I was programed to assist the next cycle, if keeping your identities unknown assists this cycle, I will." He replied.
"Thank you" I said, and nodded to Thane to leave, and we quickly ran for the ship. Thane quickly fired up the engines, and sped upwards.
"We have two gunships on our tail." Thane mentioned.
"How do I use this things guns?" I panicked, looking around.
"Don't bother, you see that switch in front of you?" he asked, and I nodded. "Those are in-atmosphere afterburners, flip it, and we'll take off, and put a distance between us and them." I did as he said, and talk about a rollercoaster. I was sucked into my seat, and the ship was creaking and moaning all over, looking over to Thane, I could see him pushed into his seat as well. We eventually reach outer space, slowing down.
"Engaging stealth systems" he said.
"Engaged" I said, confirming that they're engaged.
"Alright, going FTL, we should get back to the Citadel within two days."
"Two days?" I questioned.
"Yes, the afterburners fried a lot of our systems, so I'm taking it cautiously" he stated.
"Oh, right. Why does this thing have afterburners?" I asked, never seeing anything like them before.
"Because" he said, "the design that you gave Mordin had old thrusters on it, so to keep it aesthetically like your original design, he added them as afterburners, more of an 'in-case of an emergency'. Anyways, I need to contact Mordin."
"Can we?" I asked. "Won't it reveal our position?"
"We have a QEC installed, so they won't detect it." He claimed, and I just nodded. "Mordin? This is Thane and Chase, Operation Indoc was a success."
"Good, Operation Overlord's first phase was a success, all files transferred, and the original hardware was destroyed. I'm on my way to Achilles." He claimed.
"Very well, I'll drop off Chase at the Citadel, and leave this ship there with Vasir, I'll have her get it fixed. I'll then make my way to Achilles myself." He said, and we spent the next two days slowly limping to the citadel. To pass the time he teaches me hand to hand combat, and I get my ass kicked a lot. By now you've probably figured out what Operation Indoc was, but the just as important operation was Overlord. To put it simply, we're stealing the A.I. Eliza from the Alliance, and we're going to have it rebuilt on Achilles, that's phase two. I'm going to have it named Cortana. I'm so excited.
"Alright Thane," I said, walking towards the elevator, "I'll see ya later, keep me updated on Overlord, okay?"
"Wait" he said, "You know how you had Mordin look into Amps? Here, he made one customized for Shepard" he said, handing me a small box. "Good luck at N4 training" he said, waving me goodbye.
*Hey Cass, I got you a new Amp, trust me it's a lot better than what you have, it's not even on the market. Stay safe out there, those pirates like to play dirty. -Chase*
-September 15, 2173- 13 months later
"Hey Commander" I said, giving him my best Han Solo salute.
"You can just call me Anderson, Jarrett" he chided, "You ready for your OP?" he questioned, as I was putting on my armor.
"No" I responded, "there not even telling where I'm going or what I'm going to lead those men into, they said they'll feed me intel once I'm 'boots on ground'. This is all bull Anderson. Plus, it's delaying my N5 training, again!"
"I agree, but it's not our place to question orders that come from that high up" he claimed. "But that's not why I'm here, I want to show you a vid, and get your opinion on it." He proceeded to show me a vid on marines invading a pirate base, and in some court yard is a marine biotically charging all over the place, stopping to take a pirate out with her shotgun, then resuming her charge, and repeating.
"Impressive, she'll need training, I saw way too many openings that could've been exploited, but the raw talent's there." I said
"I couldn't have said it better myself, I plan on recommending her for 'N' school" he claimed.
"Cool, what's this have to do with me?" I asked.
"Well, if you recommend her along with me, it's a guarantee she'll get in, but…." He led on,
"It's Shepard, right?"
"Yes" he answered, "and the selection committee knows that your brutally honest on potential enlisted recruits, your recommendation would go a long way."
"Thanks" I said, getting a confused look from him. "I know for a fact that your recommendation is more than enough, so thanks for including me in this."
"Your welcome" he said smiling. "I'll have you know I already submitted it, along with your recommendation. I knew you'd say yes, and so did the selection committee, she's got the invite. If she agrees, she'll start training with the next batch that starts in three months."
"Did you inform her?" I asked.
"I talked with her over a vid-call right before I came in here, and sent her the invitation." He said
"Good, she'll accept it any minute now, I kinda wish I was there, when she accepts it, I know for a fact that this was her dream job." I spit out.
"Well, I'm sure she'll contact you soon." Anderson replied.
"Hey, Eltee" came a voice, I look over and see my Gunnery Chief for the OP I'm leading.
"Gunny?"
"We're all set to leave when you are, and the 'Cap is eager to get this mission on the move." He claimed.
"Alright, let's moveout, Anderson, I'll see you later" I said, using my soon-to-be trademarked Han Solo salute."
"Jarrett" he said, nodding towards me.
"Alright Gunny" I said, jumping into the Kodiak, "What's the total?"
"We have Three Mako's en route to our drop zone, and 21 men, Carbowski broke his arm somehow, so we're a man short." He said.
"Why Three?" I asked, "I thought they're only sending two", and the Gunny just shrugged. This doesn't feel right.
"Something wrong Eltee?" he asked.
"Just a gut feeling." I said.
"Okay, we're going communications silent in two minutes" the pilot yelled, and about a minute later I was getting a call from Shepard.
"Hey Shep" I answered.
"Chase, I got something I need to talk to you about." She said, excitement in her voice.
"Sorry Cass, it'll have to wait, I'm about to go Dark for an OP any second, I'll call you once it's over, okay?"
"Alright" she answered, clearly disappointed. "What's the OP?"
"Don't know, but-" and the call cut off, must have reached the two minute mark, so I turned off my omnitool and readied myself for what's to come.